Nash sees young people as saviors of the future

FILE - In this April 8, 2014 file photo, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer-songwriter Graham Nash speaks during the Civil Rights Summit at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library, in Austin, Texas. The 72-year-old member of Crosby, Stills and Nash spoke exclusively to The Associated Press on Monday, July 7, 2014, after the Paley Center for Media hosted a discussion with the trio regarding their newly released remastered box set commemorating their 1974 tour with Neil Young. (AP Photo/Statesman.com, Jay Janner, Pool, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Graham Nash feels optimistic that young people will once again change America for the better. So while he's frustrated by political ideals surrounding issues like global warming and marriage equality, he realizes "those powers against progress" will naturally run their course.

"They will all die at one point and the children will take over," Nash said.

He added: "Do you know anybody under 25 that gives a damn whether you marry a man if you're a man or if you marry a woman if you're a woman? No."

Nash said young people helped administer change in the 1960s and '70s, and today's young people will have a positive influence on their generation.

The 72-year-old member of Crosby, Stills and Nash spoke exclusively to The Associated Press on Monday after the Paley Center for Media hosted a discussion with the trio about their newly released re-mastered box set commemorating their 1974 tour with Neil Young.

The twice-inducted Rock and Roll Hall of Famer also shared his views on the nation's highest court and its 5-4 decision to allow companies with religious objections to avoid the contraceptives requirement in President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

"It used to be that the Supreme Court was a very unbiased set of people. It's not that way anymore. ... They made corporations people? They gave them, corporations, religious rights? That's insanity to me."

He also feels Congress has been uncooperative with the president since Barack Obama took office.

"A lot of it is political power; a lot of it is because he's a black man. There's a lot of racism in this country and we have to fight it. And the way you fight it is by spreading information and letting as many people know as you can what you think is going on and let them make up their minds," Nash said.

Nash feels that he and his bandmates — who sometimes include Young — have a responsibility to spark social change though music and discussion.

"We're just one link in a long chain of musicians that try to make the world a better place."